The EU Fundamental Rights Agency: Satellite or Guiding Star?: Raison d’être, tasks and challenges of the EU’s new agency

Abstract:

At the beginning of March, a new agency of the European Union (EU) began its work in Vienna. The European Fundamental Rights Agency (EFRA) will replace the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC), which was created in 1998. In contrast to the EUMC, the new agency will be responsible for the entire area of fundamental rights.

As the EU and the Council of Europe already have a considerable amount of instruments in the field of human rights protection, the necessity of an additional one in Europe is not entirely uncontroversial.

The new agency does, however, have considerable potential for improving the EU's human rights policy, for creating more synergies in an 'integrated European area of human rights' and for a focused debate on issues related to 'diversity management'.